RSH125 Crate 125-Foot Water Powered Retractable Garden Hose Reel

INCREDIBLE!!!!! I rarely write a review on products unless there is a problem I feel consumers need to be aware of. This however is an exception because I believe it deserves praise. If there was an option of ten stars, this would have it. In the instant gratification society we live in today with so much of our various products being viewed as disposable, it's refreshing to see that there is a company out there doing it RIGHT all the time. There are numerous hydraulic operated hose reels available on the market & unfortunately most are fraught with problems and negative reviews. I purchased this model hose reel nearly eight (8) years ago and used it without a single hiccup for the entire time. It sat in direct sunlight for the entire time and was 'used' & 'abused' continuously without fail. When it finally did start to break I looked for a replacement & saw several similar products online with mixed but mostly unfavorable reviews. In fact most people I talked with regarding a "hydraulic operated" hose reel told me that it was a waste of money because they rarely worked properly. Not sure what company produced their reels, but the SunCast Company has GOT IT RIGHT. After receiving my replacement, I just had to take the old one apart for curiosity and to determine what ultimately broke after sooooo many years. What I found was that a gear inside the winding mechanism had finally broken. What was more INCREDIBLE was how this product was built. The engineering alone could stand next to NASA and the individual parts (over approx. 100) were produced with high end plastics, polymers,O-rings, etc. What was mind blowing to me was how they are able to sell this unit at the price point it's at and still make a profit, because the individual injection molds that had to be designed and created had to cost SEVERAL thousands of dollars, not to mention the assembly process. I could go on, but just wanted to take a moment to recommend and commend SunCast for their commitment to true quality that is engineered and built to JUST WORK and for a Longgg time, particularly in todays age of garbage products with no value.

I really like this thing! My only concern with buying it was that it might not be happy while winding up a hose that had picked up debris - such as bark mulch and grass clippings - while dragging itself back to the storage reel. No need for concern. It very nicely does the job, bark chips and all. My yard is small, but I use 75 feet of high-quality hose, which reels up with no problem. I set the white exhaust hose near a rose bush that just loves water, so the "exhaust" water does not go to waste. I have two reasons for the four star rating: the hose leading into the unit is of VERY poor quality and will need to be replaced soon or the kinks will drive me nutty; the unit does not come with ground stakes to hold it firmly in place. For the price of $85, both of those items should be covered.

I can only add to the other good compliments posted here that this unit seems to work very well. Far better than expected. You cannot expect it to pull a typical hose-end spray nozzle through the grass if its handle digs into the turf, but, other than that, it seems to rewind my 5/8" garden hose very effectively. I purchased two more after the initial one and have them positioned at three locations surrounding the house. I did not find it necessary to use pegs to secure the boxes to the ground. Everyone who has seen mine in action is impressed. Each unit holds 100-ft of this larger hose easily. The short hose section that is used to control the run off water as it is rewinding is no big problem -- I just direct it to the plants nearby, or use it to clean my hands or wash down the hose, itself, to remove grime or mud. This has solved a big irritating problem for me -- rewinding 100-ft of hose manually can be a pain!Update as of January 3, 2009...Used 3 of these throughout the Summer and Fall of 2008. Now into the Winter. Never had a problem with any unit. Two are now in storage until the Spring. One is still connected but probably frozen solid. We'll see if that extreme affects it in any way. I'm amazed these work so well on such a simple principle.

You people start the black hose on my water reel and you have it started cross threaded this isn’t acceptable I want a new one sent to my house not one that is cross threaded by the idiots that work there. This is a piece of crap the way it is working now it throws more water out of the leak then the end of the hose. I will give this a 1 star every day until you send me one that isn’t broken

Looks nice and the easy rewind THEORY is nice but it's unreliable. It sticks when rewinding and have to "help it along " many times. It is not good if you have health issues because you really have to tug on the hose to pull it out of the box. Not easy and a pain in the butt. There is a lot of run off of water when you place rewind level in it's rewind mode. I use this run off water to fill a watering can . I wouldn't buy this again.

It is very useful when it works. I may have been misusing it, but after one summer’s use the rollers are really stiff and difficult to get to rotate. The plastic fixtures do not connect solidly with the metal hoses (and therefore leak) and it has never been able to reel in 150 feet of 3/4th inch hose. I think it would probably work very well with perhaps no more than 100 feet of 1/2 inch hose.

We used it all year last year, just set it back up and it works fine, what a great tool rolling up the hose was a pain, this is painless, we have two 5/8 x 50' hoses and it might take another. As an aside from it working great it looks good too.